


El Domador de Leones

by E1craZ4life



Series: La Historia de la Familia de Rivera [1]
Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Backstory, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 23:05:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14091681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E1craZ4life/pseuds/E1craZ4life
Summary: Héctor Rivera and Ernesto de la Cruz were two aspiring musicians seeking to make it big in the world. Getting wind of an approaching quinceañera in town, Ernesto tries his luck at serenading the lucky lady. Of course, Héctor knows better than to fight battles he can't win.





	El Domador de Leones

" _La luna bajó para besar la Tierra, y yo no sabía que decir._ "

" _Pero poniste tus armas alrededor de mí; ese día, la magia yo podía sentir._ "

" _Nunca quería salirte atrás, para seguir mis sueños más loco._ "

" _Ni la lluvia, ni la nieva tenerá mí de mi amor o niño aun un poco._ "

With a bold flourish, the song wound to a close.

And the audience erupted with applause.

" _Gracias! Muchos gracias!_ "

The two boys stepped down from the gazebo, waving to the people gathered in the plaza as they did so.

"I think this calls for a round of drinks. What do you say, _amigo?_ "

"That sounds good to me. Lead the way, Ernesto."

They packed up their gear and made course for the tavern.

"It's so nice to go out and see the country, playing for all the locals, writing songs,..."

" _Sí._ Of course, we know who the songwriter is between us."

"And we know who makes the songs powerful to those who hear them."

"Even so, nothing beats performing for our hometown."

They entered the tavern and were greeted with the sounds of laughter from a mariachi band at one of the tables.

The accordion player caught sight of the new patrons. " _¡Oyé!_ It's Héctor Rivera and Ernesto de la Cruz!"

" _Hola, señores._ "

" _Oyé, ¿cómo están?_ "

" _Muy bien, hombre._ "

Héctor and Ernesto took seats at the bar, and the bartender strode up to them. " _Buenas tardes, señors._ "

" _Hola._ Two tequilas, _por favor._ "

"Coming right up." The bartender laid out two bourbon glasses and filled them with tequila. " _¡Buen provecho!_ "

" _Gracias._ "

As the bartender went to help other customers, Héctor caught sight of another mariachi enter the tavern carrying a trumpet.

He was sporting a black eye on the left side of his face.

The mariachis already present started laying coins on their table.

"Looks like I win this bet."

" _¡No es justo!_ "

The trumpeter sat down with his bandmates as Héctor walked over, curious. " _¿Qu_ _é pasa?_ "

The mariachis looked to him. " _¿_ _ _Qu _é__?_ "

"What was the bet?"

"We were making bets on where Alejo would get hit."

"Doing what?"

"Playing music for the market owner's daughter."

" _Estoy confundido._ "

"Her _quinceañera_ is approaching, and all the musicians in Santa Cecilia want to play for her when it comes. She has gained a reputation for throwing rocks at every mariachi who tries to play for her."

Ernesto had followed his friend to the table and got wind of the story. "She must not like music all that much, eh?"

"No, she does like music. In fact, she sings every night from her bedroom window. She's just a hard _chica_ to please."

Ernesto thought about this. "I see. So, where does she live?"

"Whoa, slow down, _hermano_. I don't know if it's such a good idea."

"She lives just down the street from the market on top of the hill."

Ernesto picked up his suitcase. "Looks like we have our next stop, Héctor. _¡Vamanos!_ "

" _¡Espera!_ Ernesto!" But he was already out the door.

Héctor sighed and looked to the mariachi band.

" _Veinte_ pesos he loses a tooth."

"Black eye."

"Nosebleed."

"Elsewhere on the face."

Héctor gulped. "She always goes for the face?"

"She always _hits_ the face."

"Never misses, eh?"

"It'd be _suicidio_ to bet that she'll miss."

"To miss every throw?"

"To miss _any_ throw."

" _¡Ay caramba!_ " Héctor grabbed his guitar case and bolted out of the tavern in search of Ernesto.

* * *

He caught up to him just as he was passing the market.

"Ernesto! Are you _loco?_ "

"Who isn't?"

"Did you not hear what those mariachis were saying?"

"She can't turn away _everyone_ who tries to serenade her, can she?"

"What makes you think you'll get through to her?"

"There hasn't been a girl yet who hasn't been charmed by Ernesto de la Cruz."

"I guess the town will soon find out what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object."

They reached the house where the market owner lived. It was a two-story house painted white, with two windows above a porch roof, giving the general resemblance of a face.

"So, what exactly is the plan, _amigo_?"

"Alright. The first thing we should do is pretend that we're here to shine shoes."

"In front of a house where a soon-to-be 15-year-old girl whose _padre_ owns the market is living?"

"We'll keep our sombreros tipped over our faces so that she thinks we're not interested in her."

"I'm most certainly not. But what's the plan when she starts hurling rocks at our faces?"

"We'll just wait for her to start singing, and then we play along with her."

"She's probably noticed that we're here by now and is waiting to strike as we speak."

"If she's insistent on scaring away mariachis, she'd be yelling at us to leave."

"It'd be best that we return to the plaza before she starts, then."

"She wouldn't be attracting so many mariachi men if she didn't like music."

"And what makes you think you'll succeed where every other mariachi has failed?"

"We'll see how she handles two mariachi men."

"What? What am I supposed to do?"

"You'll play the guitar, and I'll sing. We'll stand in different places so that she can't hit both of us."

Héctor saw his friend walk to the end of the fence furthest from the plaza. "I... suppose we could. But one song, and we go. _¿C_ _ _omprendes_?_ "

" _Cruzo mi corazón._ "

" _Bueno._ "

* * *

The two boys heard the window open, and they looked to see a young lady in a purple silk dress pushing aside the curtains.

Her face bore the shape of an egg, with dark chocolate eyes as hard as stone. Her lips were stretched thin as she surveyed the boys beyond the fence with a displeased but resigned look on her face.

Her delicate fingers combed the window curtains as she saw that only one of them was carrying an instrument. The other was tucking his curly bangs under his sombrero.

Catching sight of the guitarist's bony face with abnormally large features, she prepared herself for her test.

" _Ay... de m_ _ _í_ , Llorona... Llorona, de azul celeste..._"

They both knew the song, and Héctor began to play along.

" _Ay de m_ _ _í_ , Llorona... Llorona, de azul celeste...  
Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona, no dejaré de quererte...  
__No dejaré de quererte!_ "

The girl started tapping the desired rhythm on the windowsill, and Héctor picked up the pace.

" _Me subí al pino más alto, Llorona, haber si te divisaba!_  
_Me subí al pino más alto, Llorona, haber si te divisaba!  
__Como el pino era tierno, Llorona,_ _al verme llorar, lloraba!_  
_Como el pino era tierno, Llorona,_ _al verme llorar, lloraba!_ "

Héctor stole a glance at the house, seeing that the girl had disappeared from the window. He didn't stop playing, though, and he soon saw her appear in the door of the house before dancing around the yard.

" _La pena y la que no es pena, Llorona,_ _todo es pena para mí!_  
_La pena y la que no es pena, Llorona,_ _todo es pena para mí!_  
_Ayer, lloraba por verte, Llorona; hoy, lloro porque te vi!_  
_Ayer, lloraba por verte, Llorona; hoy, lloro porque te vi!_  
_Ay de mí, Llorona, Llorona... Llorona, de azul celeste_ _!_ "

Ernesto joined in singing at that point.

" _Ay de mí, Llorona, Llorona... Llorona, de azul celeste_ _!_  
_Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona_ , _no dejaré de quererte!_ "

The girl disappeared into the house, but Ernesto kept singing.

" _Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona_ , _no dejaré de quererte!  
__No dejaré de quererte!  
__No dejaré de quererte!_ "

Héctor saw the girl reappear in the window with a rock in her hand, which she threw at Ernesto.

" _Ay, llorooooooooooooooNAAAAAAAAJAAJAAJAAJAA!_ "

Ernesto had succeeded in hiding the pain he felt as the rock smacked him right in the forehead, but he stumbled back into the street and was down like a ton of lumber by the time his _grito_ had wound down.


End file.
